How long has it been? Maybe a few days. Maybe a month. Perhaps more. She was hiding in a cave, wanting to wait out the rain. Not that it ever stopped. It was always the same. There was no Sun or Moon that peeked through the clouds so it was hard to tell time. She decided that waiting will do no good, so she decided to continue exploring. She had no reason to, but she had nothing better to do. She felt like exploring would probably be the right approach, maybe find a way out to less rainy places.
She put on a large animal skin to ward some of the rain off and began walking. The mud made progress annoying, but it didn’t really slow her down. She decided that maybe following the river could work… unlike the last three times. Or was it just one? Has she followed the river before? She knew it led to a lake outside the forest downstream so only following it upstream would make sense. So she followed it.
She saw movement behind the trees, some dark figures moving around. She didn’t care much. Sometimes they would come and attack her, so she’d kill them, but normally they fled from her. Such strange creatures they were, they did not sleep or eat. Not that she remembered eating or sleeping. Or maybe she did? She was probably imagining it.
As she followed the river, the forest ended and she once more reached the massive mountain range which surrounded it. The problem was: she couldn’t climb it. She had tried before but she always slipped. Damn rain. She also saw that following the river had been pointless. She simply arrived at the lake she didn’t want to arrive at. She could swear she followed it upstream though, and yet the river fed into the lake.
If it hadn’t been raining for the past year, maybe she’d be happier for finding a lake to bathe in. She had searched the lake before to see if there were any underwater caves that could lead out of the mountain cradle she was trapped in, but it had been futile.
She stood in the lake and looked down, trying to see her own reflection, but the rain was far too intense and the water was disturbed. The only thing she could catch were a pair of intensely glowing violet eyes. It reminded her of something, but she could not quite place it. It was a strange feeling, clawing at the back of her mind, yet she could not remember no matter how hard she had tried.
There was a rustle behind her, so she lazily turned around and walked out of the lake. Her shoes were going to be uncomfortable now. Wait, she wore no shoes, she’s always been barefoot. Hadn’t she? She knew she had some nice stilettos, but she hated using them. She was brought out of her thoughts by a large creature staring her down. Well, large as in it reached above her hips. No other creature did, aside from some of the larger trees. She’s only been here for a day or so though, so maybe she hadn’t seen everything this place had to offer.
The creature was a wolf, black fur and violet eyes, just like hers. It looked at her with interest, and something else. The wolf, despite the rain, was dry. Dry as a desert. No wonder though. It hadn’t rained in ages. She always assumed there had once been a lake nearby, seeing the large crater in the ground. Hmm? The wolf wanted something. She didn’t know what to do, so she crouched down and hugged it. Things like hugs, right? She did. Did she? Maybe. Hugging the wolf felt comfortable though, it felt familiar. Had she met this wolf before? No, she was very alone here, no other creature in the area, not even plants. But the wolf was still there. What did the wolf eat? Maybe it didn’t need food. What a strange creature. Did she need food? Probably. She had memories of eating. The wolf was moving around. Was it uncomfortable? Maybe.
“Awuuuu.” The wolf let out a howl. there was no moon nearby, was there? Of course not. It had been raining far too much for the Moon to be visible.
“What’s wrong Alice?” She said, more out of instinct than anything. The moment she said those words however, the world froze.
“Once you enter your soulscape, you will be on your own. You might end up spending years there, or maybe only a few seconds, we won’t be able to bring you back.” Her memories Mystra’s words echoed in her mind.
Yuuki took a good look at the wolf in front of her. It wasn’t actually Alice, it had no soul. Of course not, a soul could not enter another. And yet, she still felt hesitant to destroy it.
“Let’s go, we have work to do.” She said while the wolf wagged its tail happily.
The world around them shifted, Yuuki now in control. More or less. It was much like a lucid dream, she could control it, but some parts were filled in by her subconscious. She wanted to go where the spirits were, so they were brought there. The lowest circle of hell. A massive field with craters and fires that were still raging. But this time, there was something else. Thousands of pitch black swords, all identical pinning down the corpse of each and every being she had slain. She made her way to the centre of the battlefield. There, she found them. Freya, the previous monarch of the fire spirits. Her body had no scars or injuries aside from the sword that impaled her, which was surprising considering how Yuuki had killed her. And how she had killed many others during the battle. Of course, she had no reason to care for enemies, but the things she did made her recoil in disgust now. The wolf by her side felt her inner conflict, or maybe simply saw the massive storm overhead and decided to get a bit closer.
After petting the wolf, she walked over to Freya’s body and carefully pulled the sword out. The moment she did, the former monarch sprung to attack her, clad in fire. But this was nothing like last time. Yuuki did not have an army of spirits and demons to deal with. And even if she did, her understanding of magic and her power had grown to the point that it would not be a problem. The fire could no longer hurt her. The speed could no longer faze her. She simply grabbed the spirit’s hand and held on as she brought the two of them out of her soulscape.
Yuuki woke up, sitting on the floor of the temple with Alice next to her. The wolf-kin didn’t seem worried, so it probably hadn’t been that long. In front of Yuuki, who was sitting in a meditative pose, was Freya, sprawled out on the floor, just like Ifrit.
“Good job. You forgot about the other spirits though.” Mystra said in a carefree tone.
“If the both of them cease hostilities, I’ll consider it.” Yuuki answered, without letting any emotion show, and stood up.
Freya began slowly but surely waking up. As she sat up, she quickly cowered, holding her head and began to shake. After a few seconds, it passed like a bad dream and she began rubbing her hands together, and massaging both her knees. Her hands then quickly darted to her throat, her fingers running across it. She felt nothing out of the ordinary and so she let out a sigh. As she looked around however, that panic came back the moment she saw Yuuki. Though the appearance had undergone a massive change, she knew who it was. She felt it on an instinctual level. But that fear shifted into anger as she stood up, her eyes burning.
“I would advise against that.” Mystra said, her voice disembodied and ever present in the room.
Freya looked around a bit in confusion. “Mystra? Why are you protecting this monster?!”
“I’m protecting you. As long as you don’t attack, and as long as she’s my priestess, she can’t hurt you.”
“Why have you made it deal with it? Kill it! It’s a danger to everything! Do you really think it will stop?” Freya shouted in anger at the ceiling.
“My name is Yuuki. And might I remind you: you attacked first.” Yuuki glared at the spirit, who took a step back. “I allowed you to resurrect, so that idiot over there-” She pointed at Ifrit. “calms down. If the both of you stop being hostile, I will resurrect the rest of your people as well.”
Freya glared back as she walked over to within arms reach of Yuuki. “And why would I trust a word you say?”
“Because the alternative is us fighting. And you know how that turned out last time and how it will turn out again.” Came a cold reply.
Potato chips is best... but I need wach my figure so no chips for me